1. Field of the Invention:
According to the present invention, there is provided a room air conditioner having a housing divided by an interior barrier into an indoor, and outdoor, compartments. The evaporator or cooling means of the air conditioner is mounted in the indoor compartment and the condenser unit is mounted in the outdoor compartment. Air moving means are provided in both compartments for circulating air therethrough. In order to obtain flow of air between one compartment and the other, thereby obtaining exhaust or venting of air from or to the room, a vent or aperture is provided in the barrier. To control the airflow through the aperture, a damper is provided which is movable from a fully-closed position to a fully-open position by a slidably arranged pushbutton.
2. Description of the Prior Art:
Some prior art air conditioners provide vents or apertures in the barriers dividing the housing into separate compartments through which fresh air may be introduced from the outside into the room, and through which stale air from the room may be exhausted. In U.S. Pat. No. 2,950,667-Rose, assigned to the General Electric Company, assignee of the present invention, there is shown a multi-position, slidably-arranged member which is connected to a vent door by a control rod. While the arrangement shown in the Rose patent is effective in causing the vent door to open and close, the arrangement is expensive and difficult to properly assemble since the link must be connected at both ends and must be shaped and dimensioned accurately. Other attempts at providing venting for a room air conditioning unit are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,858,678-Rose, also assigned to the General Electric Company, assignee of the present invention; 2,408,972-Eberhart; 2,720,090-Ford; and 2,801,582-Kuhlenschmidt et al. The Rose patent discloses a complex, multi-link mechanism which is interlocked with the air conditioning control mechanism and is therefore expensive and unduly complicated to assemble conveniently.
The Eberhart and Kuhlenschmidt et al patents show multi-purpose or functional venting systems wherein several patterns of indoor/outdoor airflows are possible by manipulating a single control knob. This system is complex and expensive to manufacture and assemble. The Ford patent shows the use of electromagnetic solenoids to move ventilating and exhaust dampers through a switch which selects various predetermined operating combinations of the units and the venting and exhaust airflow patterns are determined with the air conditioner unit operation.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide an improved mechanism for controlling the airflow through an air vent of a room air conditioner which is of extremely simple construction and which may be cheaply manufactured.
It is another object of the invention to provide a damper-controlling means which is easy to operate and lock into a vent-open position by a simple push action.